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We demand participation and transparency in the change of direction of the MICI

Before the departure of the current Director of the MICI, Victoria Márquez Mees, at the end of June, a group of civil society organizations requested, through a letter sent to the IDB Executive Board, the inclusion of interested parties and the transparency in the selection process of the new Director of the Mechanism.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

On June 30, the current Director of the MICI, Victoria Márquez Mees, ends her term as head of the IDB accountability mechanism, a post she has held since 2015. In this way, the IDB is beginning the selection process from the new Director, therefore, together with a group of civil society organizations, we sent a letter to the Bank’s Board of Executive Directors requesting the inclusion of civil society and interested parties in said selection process. It should be noted that the last selection process carried out by the Bank was not very transparent and did not include civil society or other external stakeholders.

In line with the above, we recommend that the Bank create opportunities and encourage the participation of civil society and external stakeholders in the selection process. Especially considering that the MICI policy establishes that the Board will convene a selection panel to identify candidates. Furthermore, the inclusion of external stakeholders in the process of selecting the Director of accountability mechanisms is a good practice carried out by various international financial institutions such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, for example.

In line with the process of changing the mechanism’s direction, on June 12, together with a group of civil society organizations, we sent a second letter to the IDB requesting that the External Consultative Group -GCE- of the MICI be part of the process of selection. The participation of the CME will bring greater transparency to the process since the members of the Group are interested parties in the Bank who have knowledge about the region, the operation of the MICI and on issues related to transparency, sustainability and accountability. In addition, the inclusion of CGE members in the selection process means reporting your experience and qualified perspectives on the legitimate topic and the selection process and identifying the best possible candidate.

More information

Contact

Gonzalo Roza, gon.roza@fundeps.org 

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We have an Ombudsman and she is a feminist

Last Wednesday, May 27, in the midst of the health emergency affecting Argentina, the bicameral commission for the Promotion and Monitoring of Audiovisual Communication, Telecommunications Technologies and Digitization approved the appointment of journalist Miriam Lewin for the position Defender of the Public of Audiovisual Communication Services and only remains to be endorsed by those who preside over both houses, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Sergio Massa. The position was created by the Media Law and remained headless during the previous government’s term.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

The political and economic instability that has been experienced in the country in recent years has led to a mismatch in regulatory agencies, which has resulted in difficulties in the normal functioning of the agencies responsible for directing and executing public gender and communication policies.

This situation exposed society to violations of their rights. Especially if we bear in mind that the media and advertising agencies are essential actors in content development. They hold a power not only commercial or as cultural institutions, but are considered as opinion formers, producers, reproducers and transmitters of values, stereotypes, meanings and common sense, while determining what is considered relevant, normal , debatable and socially accepted or rejected.

Actors who have a monopoly on the media and content production systematically legitimize gender inequalities through the content they disseminate. For this reason, it is necessary to demand that the State guarantee the effective use of public policies that ensure respect for human rights, democratization of the media, that promote equality and that eliminate discrimination. Not only to overthrow the violence and the reproduction of stereotypes and gender violence that are perpetuated within the contents that are circulating, but also for the elimination of structural inequalities in the work spaces of this industry that mostly affect women.

Thanks to the feminist struggle and its agenda, gender-based violence is no longer tolerated today and as a result of the complaints they managed to create a legislative framework in which Media and Symbolic violence is contemplated. The Audiovisual Communication Services Law and the Comprehensive Protection Law to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women in the areas in which their interpersonal relationships are developed have the goal of protecting and safeguarding the rights of women and LGBTQ + people. In addition, state agencies such as ENACOM, the INAM Observatory of Media and Symbolic Violence (now absorbed by the new Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity), the Public Defender, INADI and the Office for the Monitoring of Publication of Sexual Trade Offer Notices.

Who is Miriam?

Miriam Liliana Lewin is an investigative journalist with an extensive career in television, radio and graphics, including work on Telenoche Investiga, Todo Noticias, Radio Nacional and América TV, among others. She was nominated seven times for the Martín Fierro award on radio and television.

She was a member of the Peronist left during the 1970s and was detained in the Virrey Cevallos clandestine detention center and in ESMA during the last civic-military dictatorship (1976-1983). In 1985 she was a witness in the Trial to the Boards, continues to declare in cases related to crimes against humanity in Argentina and is an active activist for human rights and in the struggles of the feminist movement.

As a writer, her literary works include “Ni putas ni guerrilleras” (co-authored with Olga Wornat) on sexual crimes in clandestine detention centers during the last military dictatorship. It had its first edition in 2014, pre #NiUnaMenos, #MeToo and debate on abortion, and is an indicator of interest and conviction in the feminist agenda.

On several occasions, she has expressed her affinity with the feminist movement, participating as a speaker in talks on abuse and power in society, or referring to the Women and Dissidence meeting, which is held every year in La Plata, highlighting the significant growth and importance of the women’s movement, the green, violet tide and the groups that fight for rights in the country.

In dialogue with TN, Lewin promised “to carry out a democratic and participatory management, with open doors for both communicators and all sectors that feel their rights violated in this special reality. The Ombudsman does not have punitive functions. It is that all those involved in the phenomenon of communication can be represented on the media map. To extend the rights of all and always respecting freedom of expression. “

Today more and more discriminatory discourses are questioned by society and in this line, the appointment of Miriam Lewin constitutes a hopeful message regarding the fight against media violence that affects, mostly, women and people belonging to the LGTBQ + community.

Author 

Irene Aguirre
Sofía Mongi

Contact

Cecilia Bustos Moreschi, cecilia.bustos.moreschi@fundeps.org

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Public procurement in Argentina during the state of emergency

From the Network of Organizations Against Corruption (ROCC) we published a document that compiles information on what public procurement is like at the national level, in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the provinces of Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza and Salta during the state of emergency. In addition, recommendations are proposed to increase transparency and accountability in processes.

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Public procurement in a state of emergency: how to guarantee transparency and prevent acts of corruption?

From the Network of Organizations Against Corruption (ROCC) we published a document that compiles information on what public procurement is like at the national level, in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the provinces of Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza and Salta during the state of emergency. In addition, recommendations are proposed to increase transparency and accountability in processes.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

The declaration of the health emergency in relation to COVID-19 implies facing both economic and social consequences, which impact on the use of public resources that the State has in order to meet urgent needs. Therefore, it is necessary to place special emphasis on the public procurement system in a state of emergency to publicize the traceability of how goods and services are acquired.

The publication “Public Procurement in Argentina during the state of emergency” compiles the regulatory information and information on the availability of purchasing and contracting, at the national level and in some of the provinces, including Córdoba; It also proposes recommendations for efficient, transparent and corruption prevention recruitment processes.

In general, the purchasing and contracting systems have deficiencies even during periods outside an emergency context, so it is in this type of situation that the manipulation of information and the use of extraordinary budgets can be most discretionary. When these resources are not intended for their original purposes, but diverted or misused, the rights of citizens are violated.

The Network of Organizations Against Corruption, based on the survey carried out, draws up a series of recommendations (available here) for public procurement for all levels of government carried out in the context of an emergency.

During the context of an emergency, an adequate exercise of public spending becomes particularly relevant, since otherwise it hinders and prevents people’s access to the exercise of their essential rights. It is essential to guarantee the functioning of the institutions and control systems of the financial administrations to ensure the correct use of public funds. In this way, public procurement systems must tend to satisfy the greatest number of rights, be efficient in the expenditure made and transparent in all its stages.

What is the situation in Córdoba?

Córdoba declared on March 9 the state of alert, prevention and sanitary action in the detection of cases of dengue, coronavirus, measles and any other edition of disease with high sanitary and social impact that may cause outbreaks and epidemics that affect or may affect the province of Córdoba, and adhered on March 18 to the public emergency in health matters declared by the national state through decree No. 260/2020 for a period of one year from March 12, 2020.

For the purposes of crisis management, the government of the province of Córdoba created the “Fund for the attention of the state of alert, prevention and health action for epidemic diseases” and for the purposes of the operation of this Fund, Córdoba referred to the measures that in 2015 and 2016 were arranged to deal with the massive floods that occurred in various towns in the province, at which time a “Permanent Fund for Disasters” was created.

In terms of purchasing and contracting, Córdoba did not issue specific rules that regulate the procedures that are carried out during the emergency period. As far as law 10,155 is applied, which enables in its article 10 direct contracting in the event of “existence of manifest urgency and / or imperative need in the contracting of a good or service”, which is why most of the contracting carried out during this period they have been under this modality.

To access the specific recommendations of the province of Córdoba click here

Contact

Nina Sibilla, ninasibilla@fundeps.org

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Climate Change and the Rights of Women, Indigenous Peoples and Rural Communities in the Americas

Together with 16 civil society organizations in Latin America, we prepare this report that addresses the problem of Climate Change, its effects and impacts on human rights from the regional context. It was presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights during the 173rd session.

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Report on Climate Change and the Rights of Women, Indigenous Peoples and Rural Communities in the Americas

Together with other civil society organizations in Latin America, we prepare a report addressing the problem of Climate Change, its effects and impacts on human rights from the regional context. This was then presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights during the 173rd session.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

The report, prepared collaboratively with 16 Latin American civil society organizations, analyzes the existing problems surrounding the effects of climate change. In particular, the impact that the phenomenon has on the human rights of millions of people worldwide is examined. Its consequences cross and violate the right to life, health, water, and a healthy environment, in turn affecting many others due to the interdependence between all of them.

Likewise, the differentiated impact to which certain groups and communities in vulnerable situations are subject, such as those who belong to Indigenous and tribal peoples, children and adolescents, women and members of rural communities. Those who make up these groups, due to their particular circumstances, suffer more intensely from the harmful effects of climate change, consequently, their situation of vulnerability worsens.

In this document, we also examine the scope of measures necessary to prevent and deal with such consequences. For this, it is essential that the States implement mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as measures that provide for the repair of losses and damages caused. In this context, the report analyzes the obligations and responsibilities that both state and non-state actors have, in order to achieve complete respect for human rights. Finally, the document contains some recommendations based on the international human rights system.

The role that each actor occupies around the problem calls for a differentiated action. The States, Companies, Financial Institutions, and International Organizations must implement actions and measures that respect human rights in a context of climate emergency.

Download Report (Spanish version Only)

Contact
Juan Bautista Lopez, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

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Not one less. We move in (the) networks.

Five years ago, on June 3, 2015, after the news of the femicide of Chiara Páez and in the face of extreme sexist violence, we took to the streets and banded ourselves under the “Not a Less”. For this year, one of the slogans is “We are supported by feminist networks”. In the context of social isolation, various virtual activities will take place.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

This slogan represents the fight against the most extreme consequence of sexist violence: death. According to official data, prepared by the Women’s Office of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, in 2018 there were 255 direct victims of femicides. These reports are based on data from the previous year and the methodology consists of statistically analyzing the judicial cases in which violent death due to gender is investigated. According to the 2019 report, there were 268 direct victims of femicide and femicide victims and 5 transvesticides and transfemicides in Argentina.

You can also find current data that is produced by various social actors. The observatory of gender violence “Now that they see us” reported that as of April 30 of this year, 177 femicides had occurred.

In the context of a pandemic and taking into account the social scenario against the measure of Preventive and Mandatory Social Isolation (ASPO), the Adriana Marisel Zambrano Femicide Observatory of the Casa del Encuentro decided to relieve and publicize the number of women murdered since the 20th of March. As of May 28, during ASPO there were 57 femicides and linked femicides of women and girls. The data reveals that 1 in 6 victims had previous complaints, that 71% were murdered in the home and 65% of the aggressors were partners or ex-partners of their victims.

For her part, the Minister of Women, Genders and Diversity of the Nation told the Télam Agency that during ASPO calls for consultations to 144 increased by 40%.

Particularly in Córdoba, the Judiciary informed that since the extraordinary recess was declared, as of April 30, the Courts specialized in family and gender violence issued 1803 orders to restrict contact between the aggressor and the victim and 471 exclusions from the home to the aggressors.

Now how do we read this data? Male violence finds its source in gender inequality and its most extreme expression in the high numbers of complaints of violence and femicides. Added to this, the context of social crisis, deepened by the pandemic and the tool of social isolation, intensify the conditions of vulnerability of people living in contexts of gender-based violence.

The figures, the claims and the vulnerability are an alarm call to put in check the strategies that the State develops in the face of male violence. A few days ago, it was announced that the Network of People Crossed by Femicide and the team of litigation on Human Rights Justice and Reparation made a presentation before the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against women (CEDAW) for the case of the femicide of Florence Bathrobe. What is raised in the case, as reported, is the lack of protection and access to justice, by the Argentine State, in a context of gender violence.

In this scenario and as an achievement of the pressure exerted by the feminist movements, Tucumán adhered to the Micaela law. At the national level and in all provinces, mandatory training and awareness-raising on gender and gender-based violence for all persons in public service at all levels and hierarchies of the three branches of the State now governs. Micaela’s memory and many others demand that this law is not just one more box to complete. The gender perspective in public policies, norms, and access to justice must force the visibility of existing inequalities and generate strategies to make gender equality real and structural. For this, it is necessary to allocate the necessary budget and the political will to deepen structural changes.

As long as the old mechanisms of patriarchy continue to function, feminist movements will continue to raise flags on the streets and in (the) networks.

Author

Ivana Sánchez

Contact

Cecilia Bustos Moreschi, cecilia.bustos.moreschi@fundeps.org

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Analysis of the Second Plan Joint Action between Argentina and China (2019-2023)

The following document describes and analyzes the Second Joint Action Plan agreed between Argentina and China (2019-2023) at the G20 summit in 2018. This Plan reinforces the comprehensive strategic partnership between both States and details the actions that will be carried out carried out in different areas such as politics, trade, culture, finance, communications, among others.

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Trunk Gas Pipelines and the difficulty of accessing public information in the province

On the occasion of the completion of the Trunk Pipeline Work in the province of Córdoba, last year we made 5 requests for information to provincial agencies. When we did not get any response, we presented a prompt dispatch to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. The difficulties we have encountered in accessing information about this project have been constant since its inception.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

Since 2014, we have made various requests for information on this emblematic project to both the Provincial Government and the National Government. On the occasion of the project’s completion, last year between August and October we made a series of requests for information to three departments of the Province of Córdoba directly or indirectly involved in the project, namely: the Córdoba Investment and Financing Agency -ACIF -, the current Ministry of Public Works, former Ministry of Public Works and Financing and the current Ministry of Environment, ex. Ministry of Water, Environment and Public Services.

At the end of 2019, as we had not received a response from any of the provincial agencies for the requests for information made and the response period had ended, we decided to make an early dispatch to the Ministry of the Environment.

It is important to clarify that once the provincial agencies receive a request for information they have 10 days to respond and it can only be extended for an additional 10 days as long as it is reported within the deadline. In the event of an incomplete response or lack of response, as was the case here, a prompt dispatch may be submitted. This resource is the same request for information, but it details the date and details of the request that had been made, together with a warning to initiate legal actions, that is, an injunction for default. Any provincial agency has a term of 10 to respond to the prompt dispatch, with the possibility of extending it for another 10 days, as well as with requests for information. In our case, the prompt dispatch was carried out in mid-December 2019, however the Ministry of the Environment responded to us only in February 2020, that is, the deadline was more than expired.

Thanks to the prompt dispatch made, we received the response to the request for information made in August 2019. The request requested information on the final layout of the project, location and number of inhabitants, businesses and industries benefited by the works and the state of situation. of the project. According to the information provided, all the Regional Systems are completed with provisional and / or definitive reception of the work.

In addition, we inquired about the companies and / or Transitory Business Units (UTEs) that participated in the project as well as what were the details and characteristics of the plan for connecting the home units to the Trunk Systems Regarding this last query, the provincial agency He replied that by means of a protocolized Agreement No. 024/2017 signed by the province of Córdoba, the Banco de Córdoba and the Distribuidora de Gas del Centro SA The “Fund for the Financing of Natural Gas Home Networks” was approved. It established the guidelines and requirements that the adhering municipalities must meet to allow the neighbors the possibility of obtaining financing to face the costs of connecting to natural gas in the home networks. In line with the above, the origin of the financing of the Provincial Plan Connect Gas Industry that enables the connection to the natural gas service to Shops, SMEs, Industries, Industrial Parks, among others, was consulted. This Program has a Banco de Córdoba financing line of $ 200,000,000, an amount that is loanable up to 100% of the value of the work according to the client’s classification. Also, the Program has financing of $ 100,000,000 from the Federal Investment Council.

Most of the information requested had previously been requested in requests for information that we made in previous years but in which we did not receive any response. Information that would have been optimal to have long before.

The lack of response to requests for information, such as non-compliance with the deadlines stipulated by Provincial Law 8803 on Access to Public Information (called the Law on Access to Knowledge of State Acts), hints, again, not only the great difficulty currently existing to access public information in the hands of the government of the Province, but also how outdated this law is, which dates back to 1999. Consequently, last year together with social organizations we requested through a document the update of this Provincial Law in accordance with the guidelines of the Inter-American Model Law and the National Law of Access to Public Information.

Access to public information is a human right that strengthens citizen participation, transparency in public administration, and democratic governance. For this reason, it is necessary to update the provincial Law in this matter in order to solve the shortcomings it possesses, incorporating the highest standards and guaranteeing control mechanisms that supervise its compliance.

More information

Author

  • Gonzalo Roza
  • Sofia Brocanelli

Contact

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Normative analysis: How is the new tobacco regulation in Córdoba?

Today, May 31, the World No Tobacco Day is celebrated. On the occasion of this date, we carry out an analysis of the latest law passed in Córdoba on the matter.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

In October 2019, in the province of Córdoba, Law 10,661 was passed, amending Law 9,113 establishing the Permanent Provincial Program for the Prevention and Control of Smoking in the province of Córdoba. This new legislation extends the threshold of protection of the right to health from two thematic nodes. On the one hand, it incorporates a complete prohibition of advertising, promotion, sponsorship and exhibition of tobacco, its derivatives and smoking accessories in dispensers and any other type of shelf located in the premises where such products are sold. On the other hand, it introduces electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products, and establishes its prohibition of distribution and commercialization to minors under 18 years of age and the prohibition of consumption in closed places with access to the public. The new provincial legislation extends the threshold of protection of the right to health, in line with the recommendations of the World Health Organization and, mainly, with the standards established in the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Until the enactment of the tobacco law No. 10,661, in the province of Córdoba, the prohibitions on advertising established by the national law 26,687 governed by the adherence of the provincial law No. 10,026. National law prohibits the advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products directly or indirectly and through any means of dissemination or communication; leaving the advertisements at points of sale, the publications of companies in the sector and direct communications, with the consent and verification of the age of majority of the recipients.

However, through the new local regulations, progress is made in a higher standard of protection of the right to health than that established in the national standard, completely prohibiting advertising, promotion and sponsorship and including the display of the product as part of that prohibition.

In sum, in this report an analysis of Provincial Law 10,661 is made in relation to the two thematic nodes introduced, based on the delimitation of the scope of the new prohibitions in relation to the provisions of national legislation and international instruments in the matter (especially, the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control). At the same time, some of the possible challenges in the application of local law are recognized and possible advances aimed at deepening the protection of the right to health are seen.

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Author

  • Gonzalo Hunicken
  • Delfina María Scagliotti

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Analysis of regulations on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship prohibition in Córdoba

In October 2019, in the province of Córdoba, Law 10,661 was passed, amending Law 9,113 establishing the Permanent Provincial Program for the Prevention and Control of Smoking in the province of Córdoba. This new legislation extends the threshold of protection of the right to health. We share an analysis of this last sanctioned law.

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Status of the emblematic projects with Chinese financing in Argentina

China’s growing interest in financing infrastructure projects in the region has led Argentina to sign a multiplicity of cooperation agreements with this country. For this reason, we have identified a series of projects with Chinese financing which we believe are relevant for their magnitude and for the economic, social and environmental impacts they can generate. Thus, in this document, the status of the situation, amounts committed and actors involved in the selected projects considered emblematic are detailed (only spanish).

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